The Large Dumbo

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

The tiefling quietly sighed, looking over to the woman who was shouting at them. It seemed she had an issue with some of her windows being opened and her cutlery being taken - spirits of some sort. Jitter seemed to think that a chwinga was involved in this mess, but Kythor himself didn't want to jump to that conclusion just yet. It could be possible that it was a chwinga, and that would be quite handy if they could encounter one here, but assuming such would be a quick way to ensure disappointment if that was not the case. In any case, the mention of payment piqued Kythor's interest. Besides, it wasn't like they had anything especially pressing to be doing at the moment. Who knows? Maybe this woman was being 'haunted' by a chwinga, whose boons were being misinterpreted. Perhaps the chwinga itself misinterpreted exactly what exactly counted as a boon.

Either way, sitting here thinking about it won't get them any closer to the truth.

"Anything you could tell us would greatly help us help you," he called back. "Are you the only one who's been getting haunted by these spirits 'a yours? Anything you might've done to anger any sorts of spirits? Forest spirits, for example?"

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

Just as they had snagged a lull in their conversation, and Kythor figured he would be able to most easily hunt for a chwinga... somebody had stepped out of their house to warm him of the curses the winds brought. And sure enough, Kythor found himself cursing up a storm in Infernal, in a barely-audible whisper beneath his breath. Loud enough for the others to barely hear, but not loud enough for the woman shouting to him to hear. He was a bit less than pleased that his attempts to scout for chwingas was interrupted by a city-dweller shouting superstition at him. The tiefling sharply inhaled. He bet he probably got to know these lands Better than she currently had, or ever would. How soft they were!

Kythor paused. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, quietly listening as Jitter expressed his concerns at their hunt. The tiefling's thoughts on the matter hadn't changed, and he was still somewhat aggravated about his attempt to spy a chwinga being squandered, so he decided to let Kendra handle the conversation. Admittedly, the idea of them finding a chwinga to volunteer themselves for experimentation wasn't a bad idea. Chwingas could offer boons to people, and he didn't imagine that asking one to accompany them to aid with Dannika's experiment would be too far out of the question. Especially if they framed it as helping people get a better understanding of the weather and how it can be manipulated by them. It'd save them the trouble of having to capture one and keep it under watch, for sure, but unless they happened to find a chwinga in trouble, he didn't imagine this was the quickest option.

"I don't know about making the weather less lethal, per se," he warned. "We mess with the natural world, we mess with not only the way of life of the animals who have adapted to survive here. We weaken those who are forced to adapt to the environment. A child does not grow by being coddled all of his life." Although his demeanor had cooled from the mounting irritation he had built up when he was being shouted to, in truth, Kythor was actually concerned - almost terrified - at the thought of the world around him being changed in any dramatic fashion. Sure, it might make life better for the city folk, but Kythor was quite proud of his people's way of life and how they had forced themselves to learn how to survive. Would he be worthy if he suffered any less than they had? Why should he deny that opportunity to others? Where was it his place to make that call?

Taking his mind off of that for now, Kythor looked down at Jitter. "Jitter, you seem to be quite displeased with us tryin' to hunt down and capture a chwinga to be experimented on," he said, crossing his arms in thought. "I don't really see the problem with us hunting down a non-evil, 'innocent' creature for gold. It's no different from us hunting a rabbit to eat or a wolf to skin for its pelt, no? In either case, we'll have time to figure out this moral dilemma later. Think that woman back there spooked any chwingas we might've seen over here..." Kythor scoffed, rolling his eyes. He still couldn't believe that had happened. "Kendra, you said we might be able to find a volunteer if we could talk to one. Well, I figure none of us can really talk to any of 'em, but I do know that if they like you, they'll do little favors for you or give you gifts. Maybe if we could find a chwinga in trouble and help it, we might be able to try and negotiate with one to get it to come with Dannika without the need for force? And if that fails, I imagine they'd be in a much more vulnerable spot than they would otherwise be..."

"I'm just throwin' that out there, mind," he quickly added. "Talking a chwinga into coming with us, or just nabbing one up and putting it in a box - I don't care how we go about it, just as long as we get ourselves a chwinga by the end of it."

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

Caer-Dineval. Kythor committed that location to memory. He was certainly interested in tailing Avarice, but he was also well aware that his group had no real business traveling there on a whim anyways. Still, if they ever had nothing better to do, pitching the idea of traveling to Caer-Dineval to find Avarice might not be too bad of an idea.

The moment they stepped outside, Kythor immediately pulled his hood back up and wrapped his scarf around his face. Spitting a quiet curse in Infernal, he'd realized that what little daylight had been offered to them had been all but extinguished by this point. The darkness itself bothered him little - the fiendish blood running through his veins granted him several extraordinary effects, among them was the ability to see decently well in the darkness. The only issue there was that although he could see in the darkness, his vision was still significantly better in the light. That, and the fact that as the weather worsened and as darkness crept across the lands, most animals returned to their homes to rest, not only to avoid the harsh weather but to gather their strength for a hunt in the morning. People were much alike animals in this regard, and although Kythor wasn't exactly an expert in the field, he imagined that chwingas were hardly any different from either group.

His silent ruminations were put on hold as he listened to Jitter. He gave a quiet nod to Jitter, interested to note that the halfling hadn't, in fact, gotten himself tied to a burning pole. Although he was still dubious about the halfling's combat skills and capability to survive in the woods - a caution extended to all members of the group present - he couldn't deny that the information he gathered was of intrigue to them. All creatures had a natural habitat in which they thrived. It seemed that for Jitter, this habitat was none other than the world of villages and cities. It'd do him well to keep an eye on the halfling, should he need to stay in the cities for longer than he had anticipated.

"Another killer, hm?" The tiefling shook his head grimly. "And a blood stained book? In the town library? No animals are as dangerous as that of the civilized world, it seems. Unpredictable, undetectable, and an unseen threat until it is too late... At least out in the world beyond cities and towns, one's enemies are a lot easier to see and identify." The tiefling pulled his cloak shut. Perhaps the elders were right. The rules of how the city operated on a natural level were still an enigma to him. Totally indecipherable. "I agree that we should do our best to avoid splitting up, so we don't end up as fodder for the worms,"Kythor added. Another killer, and from the sounds of it one still active. Part of him wondered what to do with this new information. After some debating, he decided to turn this bad news into a good opportunity. Just as he'd finished that thought, Kendra had taken and finished analyzing the strange blood-stained book.

When he'd initially heard that the book held little but terrible poetry, his interest had faded almost immediately, but as he heard there was some sort of magic affecting it, his attention was recaptured. "A spell cast on the book to hide something?" Kythor said, crossing his arms. "For what reason, I wonder. Well, at least we have it now. Not bad, Jitter." He chuckled briefly before continuing. "We ought to bring this up to Imdra, no? She may be interested in this. Besides, if you don't have a spell to fix it," Kythor said, nodding to Kendra, "we won't be able to see what it really says, right? Not much we can do with it as is... Or, perhaps we could try to track down that tiefling wizard, Avarice? She was an associate of Dzaan, and a member of the Arcane Brotherhood. Maybe she's got a spell to reveal the book's real text."

While they talked, Kythor quietly began to look around the local area, keeping his eyes peeled for chwingas in the nearby area. They had been spotted in this area allegedly, but there were be many reasons why they weren't immediately evident. He'd have to focus hard to try and find one...

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

I will need to know if tall are using the lantern at all.

@Lurking Krog

Kythor really doesn't want to use the lantern if they can help it, since he's not really too sure where all they'll be able to restock on oil, so for now he's gonna just try to make do with his eyes. Gonna make a Perception check to try and see if he can maybe spot either a chwinga or tracks/signs of a chwinga in/having been in the area, if I can. Heads up, I probably won't be on until way later tomorrow, so I'm just gonna go ahead and drop my roll down below. Once I'm able to, I'll see about incorporating the results Kythor gets from his check.

Wisdom(Perception) Check: 1d20+6=17

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Hi, how are yall?

@Lurking Krog

Just kinda tired atm, but other than that I'm doing alright.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

His current business concluded, Kythor stood up and nodded. "We can only hope," he said with a tired chuckle. The tiefling turned to leave. "Guess we'd better start off our hunt for a chwinga while we've still got sunlight going. Figure we oughta go and figure out where our forth went, too." Kythor sighed, but shook his head and looked to his two currently-present companion. "You two ready to go?" He took a step forward, but paused. Before they left, he had one little thing he wanted to check on before they left. "Actually, before we go..." Kythor paused for a moment, turning around and leaning against the doorframe. He crossed his arms and turned to look at Imdra. "Avarice - I don't suppose you'd know where she was headed after she left this town? I'm a bit curious about... I'm just a bit curious." Although he was currently standing in the doorway, Kythor would step aside to permit anybody who wished to leave or enter the office they were in.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

@HEAVY METAL

Made a nature check a while back to see if Kythor knew what chwingas were:

<Snipped quote by The Large Dumbo>

Yes he was.

So you know that they are shy creatures that live in the ice, snow, plants, rivers, and rocks away from civilization. They are also really small, look a lot like dolls really, and have a fascination with humanoids for reasons not really known to you. Sometimes they will aide creatures they like or sometimes the bestow gifts.

@Lurking Krog

Kythor talked a bit about chwingas in Good Mead too, but I guess he never actually described what exactly they looked like - he just called them "small forest spirits" apparently. Either way, he has a pretty good idea what chwingas look like. As for whether or not they're evil... In character, Kythor's pretty sure they're not evil, and are neutral at worst, presuming they're just trying to survive unseen.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

"We might come back to try to find 'em, but for now we're occupied with our chwinga hunt. You said some were spotted on the edge of town?" The tiefling nodded. This definitely made their hunt easier - they'd been seen around these parts, so he presumed that if they looked hard enough, they could find a few around town. It might be worthwhile to find one, let it escape, and then track it back to its dwelling. Admittedly, Kythor wasn't too sure about the structure of chwingas, and whether they lived or traveled in packs, but he was certainly interested in learning more about them through observation.

"Good. That helps us out quite a bit. We'll look around, see if we can't find a few, maybe see if we can track it down. Has anybody in particular claimed to have seen 'em around a lot? Maybe near or in their homes, rummaging through their things?" Kythor asked. It could be that they've taken an interest in one of the citizens. If this was the case, this would make the process of finding and catching one a lot easier on them. At the very least, it'd help narrow down their search any further if they could find a particular point where they happen to congregate.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

To be fair, Kythor's not really too keen on us splitting the party to begin with. The biggest reason why he's sticking with the group is because it's a way to mutually assure survival for all parties involved, the way he sees it splitting up into two groups of two isn't really in his or the party's best interests. Not to mention that, to be honest, he's still kind of on the fence about the party's capacity to survive in this kind of environment to begin with.

Of course, this'll probably change when it comes time for the party to test their mettle in combat and as he gets to know them better, but for now he's still got the village elder's ideology of "city bad and city folk soft and weak hyuckhyuckhyuck" hardwired into him. He'll come around eventually!

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

Once inside, Kythor let down his hood and removed his scarf as a sign of courtesy. As a result, when he heard the payment would only be in the form of a 'magical grey bag' and a scroll of fireball - effectively naught - the disappointment and disinterest was made apparent on his face. Especially given the fact that they'd likely have to find somebody to borrow a boat from, this seemed to be a waste of time in the tiefling's opinion. He might be invested in pursuing the fishermen after they deliver the chwinga to Dannika, but charity work was not something Kythor was interested in. Even at that, by that point the fishermen could very well be starving or freezing to death. He furrowed his eyebrow in thought. To him, it seemed like they would either have to capture a chwinga and bring it to Dannika and leave the fishermen to their fate, or they could try to save the fishermen and risk somebody filling Dannika's request...

What was a life worth to him?

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat before addressing Imdra herself. "I don't want to speak for all of us, but personally, I'm not real interested in finding out what happened to your fishermen," he said. "At least, not while we've got somethin' else going. Personally, I'm not real sold on a scroll I can't use and some sort of a magical bag... unless that bag's got an endless supply of arrows or food in it. Like I said though, as long as we're all traveling together, I'm not gonna be the one who says what we do and don't do." These others had their own reasons and motivations for traveling. For Kythor, it was to prevent these people - the ones he was traveling with - from falling prey too quickly to the various brutal fates of these lands. They hadn't exactly paid him, sure, but there was safety in numbers, so Kythor saw no reason why not to stick around with these people.

There was another reason, of course, but Kythor didn't like to think about that. Not right now.

With that, the tiefling turned his head to nod at both Kendra and Theodorick. "You two interested in tracking down these fishermen?" He asked. "Pay don't sound too good, but I'm thinking if we wait until after we settle our other business, it may be too late for 'em."